Here's How to Spot Scams Offering Fake Tickets for Taylor Swift Concerts and the Olympics
Taylor Swift is one of the most popular musicians in recent history and fans across the globe are willing to pay any price for a glimpse of the star. But this blind devotion has also opened doors for scammers to deceive her fans in the online space. Fake tickets for the Olympics and Taylor Swift concerts have become two of the biggest online scams according to authorities. The alert came after a banking lobby group reported that a large number of people had been tricked by romance fraud so far. "Every year we see a cycle of scams changing throughout the year," said Ben Donaldson, the managing director of economic crime at UK Finance, via BBC. "Olympics and Taylor Swift are the two biggest examples of this year."
Tickets for certain events like the Olympics, Euro 2024, Glastonbury, or Taylor Swift sell out quickly and people still look for them online to get their hands on the best deal. "Criminals will use this as an opportunity to try and trick you into purchasing tickets that are either fraudulent or don’t exist," says UK Finance's Andy Donald.
The good news is that authorities have made some progress in the fight against fraud which went up during the pandemic. It's said that the total number of cases has plummeted by 1% from 2002 to roughly 2.97 million. It also found that losses to unauthorized transactions fell by 3% to $901.38 million last year.
"The money stolen funds serious organized crime and victims often suffer emotional damage as fraud is a pernicious and manipulative crime," Donaldson said.
"With reimbursement rules set to change, we risk even more money getting into criminal hands, unless the technology and telecommunication sectors take [proper] action to stop the fraud that proliferates on their platforms and networks," Donaldson added.
Cybercrime has been rising for quite some time now, and therefore, people need to stay informed. If you are somebody looking to buy tickets for one of these events online, it's recommended that you do your own research and purchase tickets from a company you know well, such as Ticketmaster among others. It's also important to know that search engines are not always reliable when it comes to looking up trusted sources, and therefore heading to public forums such as Reddit to find out what works best for most people is advisable. There's also the need to be very cautious about buying tickets off resellers.
To be safe, look out for the STAR logo, which means that the vendor you are looking at is a member of the Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers, and the company has signed up with strict governing standards.
Other common safety measures include being wary of unsolicited emails or any other intimation. Always remember that if a deal sounds too good to be true, more often than not, it is. In addition to that, be sure to not pay for tickets through bank transfer. Always, use credit cards or services like PayPal that allow you to reverse the transaction in case of fraud.
